The Reason the State Department Says John Kerry Won’t Comply With a Congressional Subpoena to Testify About Benghazi

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UPDATE — 4:15 p.m. ET: Secretary of State John Kerry now says he will comply with “whatever responsibilities” he has to Congress over Benghazi.

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Secretary of State John Kerry won’t comply with a subpoena he received to appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on May 21, a spokeswoman said Monday.

Marie Harf, the deputy spokesperson for the State Department, said during a press conference that Kerry will be unable to attend the special hearing because he will be on a previously scheduled trip to Mexico that day.

Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Ambassador to France’s residence in Paris, Sunday, March 30, 2014, after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the situation in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

“We’re going to be in Mexico,” Harf repeatedly told reporters, when pressed on whether Kerry would comply with the congressional subpoena.

“Do you see how members of — some members of Congress think that the production of this document last week, this infamous email now, is suggestive that you are not — that this building and the Administration as a whole has not been forthcoming and is slow-walking or even attempting to hide,” a reporter asked, according to a transcript of the briefing.